Identity salience shifts with the scale of the surrounding group

Evidence

Brewer’s (1991) Optimal Distinctiveness Theory, for example, has proposed that social identification should be considered as deriving from two opposed psychological needs: differentiation and assimilation. According to this account, identification with a group will be “optimal” when these two needs balance each other out, and this is most likely to occur in groups of intermediate size – neither so large as to threaten the need to see oneself as “different,” nor so small as to challenge the need to see oneself as connected to others. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 433 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Individual identity is strengthened by representation in others’ attention — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 493; Majority-minority shift salience is manipulated by random survey-form assignment among independents — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 14; Shrinking groups become more salient and vocal, not less (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Group identity is malleable and its salience can shift. #corroborates (0.95)
• Social identification peaks in groups of intermediate size balancing two opposing needs #expands (0.92) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 433